Illuminated sign construction



Jan. 23, 1934. L. SCHEPMOES ILLUMINATED SIGN CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 19, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l BY ATTORNEYS Y-X L Patented Jan. 23, 1934 1 944;?

ILLUMINATED SIGN CONSTRUCTION Lindsley Sch'epmoes, New Haven, Conn, assignor to The Safety Car Heating & Lighting Company, a corporaticn of New Jersey Application September 19, 1931 Serial No. 563,756

21 Claims. (01. 40133) This invention relates to an illuminated sign the front surface of mirror-member 12 and thus construction. be set off in relief therefrom are a series of in- One of the objects of this invention is to prodicia generally indicated at 13, these indicia vide a simple, practical and thoroughly durable being of any desired form. It should be underilluminated sign. Another object of this invenstood that by the term indicia I mean any Ge tion is to provide a device of the above characsymbols, configurations, letters or other intelligiter which will be attractive and striking in apble insignia tending to convey a certain imprespearance while increasing the visibility thereof. sion, idea or thought. Another object of this invention is to provide a Although I may employ any specular reflecting l0 device of the above character in which the insurface for mirror-member 12, I have found it dividual indicia are successfully set off in a clear very advantageous to form this member so that and distinct manner so that they may be readthe front surface thereof, as viewed in Figure 1, ily legible. Another object of this invention is is the reflecting surface. For this purpose I have to provide a device of the above character which found sheet metal plated with highly polished 15 will be of ready and inexpensive manufacture. chrome to be very desirable and economical. The to Another object of this invention is to provide chrome surface or reflecting surface of such a a device of the above character which will be piece of metal is upon the front surface of the efiicient and reliable in operation. Other obmetal, as viewed in Figure 1, one of the differjects will be in part obvious and in part pointed ences between such a mirror-member and an out hereinafter. ordinary mirror being that the ordinary mirror, The invention accordingly consists in the feaformed from a suitable transparent material such tures of construction, combinations of elements, as glass, usually carries its reflecting surface and arrangements of parts as will be exempliupon the rear side thereof. Although it is possified in the structure to be hereinafter described, ble to use such a mirror, I have found it highly and the scope of the application of which will advantageous and more practical to employ a 80 be indicated in the following claims. mirror-member having a front reflecting surface.

In the accompanying drawings, in which are Indicia 13 may be formed from certain transshown several of the various possible embodilucent materials, the exact nature of which Will ments of my invention, I be described more fully hereinafter. For pur- Figure 1 is a perspective view of an illuminated poses of illustration, I have here shown the in- 85 sign embodying certain features of my invendicia spelling the word Exit under which aption; j pears an arrow 14 of similar construction. In-

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the sign as dicia. 13, extending from mirror-member 12 to shown in Figure 1, certain of the parts thereof a plane or planes spaced from the plane surface being shown in detail; thereof, as viewed in Figure 1, are preferably 90 Figure 3 is a horizontal cross-section taken formed with walls 15 substantially at right angles along the line 33 of Figure 2; to the plane surface of the mirror-member and Figure 4 is a horizontal cross-section of an have a front or a top portion 16 converging from illuminated sign such as that shown in Figwalls 15 to form-substantially convex tops there- 40 ure 1, embodying certain other features of my for. Likewise, arrow 14 has walls 17 similar to 95 invention; walls 15 and a top side 18 similar to the tops 16. Figure 5 is a cross-section taken along the However, it should be understood that the indicia line 5-5 of Figure 4, and I 13 may take any desired form, the present form Figure 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of being considered most desirable for an illumia portion of the sign as shown in Figure 1. hated exit sign, such as is generally placed upon 100 Similar reference characters refer to similar or above the fire exits in theatres, public halls,

parts throughout the several views of the drawand the like.

ings. Frame 11, to which mirror-member 12 is se- Referring now to the drawings in detail, there cured, preferably is shaped to have a rearwardly is shown in Figure 1 an illuminated sign genextending flange 19. Still referring to Figure 3, 105

erally indicated at 10. More specifically, sign flange 19 extends about and is close fitted with a 10 includes a frame 11 within which is mountcasing generally indicated at 20. Casing 20 may ed and connected thereto a mirror-member 12 in be of any suitable character adapted to rest a manner to be described more fully herein- Within a cavity or recess in the Wall or on a plane after. Suitably positioned so as to extend from surface thereof. However, I have heresshown 0 casing 20 mounted within a cavity 21 in a wall 22. To secure casing 20 within cavity 21, I provide screws generally indicated at 23 passing through the rear side of casing 20 and thence into wall '22. The manner of attaching frame 11 to casing 20 is substantially similar to the construction used in the embodiment of my invention shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6 and will be described more fully hereinafter.

For purposes of convenience, any reference herein to a direction as rearward indicates a direction toward the top of the page when viewing Figure 3, and any direction signified as forward indicates a direction toward the bottom of thepage when viewing the above-mentioned figure.

Indicia 13 may be secured to mirror-member 12 in any convenient manner over openings generally indicated at 24, substantially following the shape of such indicia. These indicia may be formed from any suitable material, although in certain instances it is more desirable to use a substance of a specific character for best results, as will be described more fully hereinafter. Thus, indicia 13 may be formed from translucent glass or synthetic resins such as phenolic condensation products. The indicia so formed with walls 15 and tops 16 are substantially similar in dimensions and shape to opening 24, as described above, and may be inserted therethrough. The opposite sides of indicia 13 are open, as best seen in Figure 3, and extending outwardly from walls 15 thereof and substantially at right angles there to are flanges generally indicated at 25. The periphery of flanges 25 is larger than openings 24 and thus these flanges lie against the inner side of mirror-member 12 to prevent any forward displacement of the indicia.

To secure indicia 13 to mirror-member 12 in the position shown in Figure 1, I provide a series of soft metal clips 26 (Figure 3) secured to the rear side of mirror-member 12 and having free portions 27 extending toward openings 24 to overlap flanges 25. Thus, indicia 13 may be inserted in openings 24 from the rear side of mirror-member 12, when portions 27 of clips 26 are in an upright position. When flanges 25 lie flush against the rear side of mirror-member 12, portions 2'7 of clips 26 are bent downwardly upon the flanges to aifix the indicia in their proper operative position. v

In this instance, to provide suitable illumination for indicia 13, I prefer to use a glow-tube generally indicated at 28. Tube 28 may be of the common glass construction containing a suitable gas as, for example, neon, which becomes illuminated when a current is passed therethrough. Thus, the opposite ends 29 and 30 (Figure 2) of tube 28 pass through a suitable insulator 31 slidably mounted in the rear side of casing 20. Conductors 32 and 33 are connected to suitable terminals on ends 29 and 30 of tube28 thence to be led off from the wall and connected across a suitable source of high potential current. As is more clearly shown in Figure 2, tube 28 extending from end 29 passes through substantially all portions of indicia 13 before returning to insulator 31 as end 30 and is held in this position by clips 280. secured to mirror-member 12. Accordingly, when tube 28 is lighted, all portions of in dicia 13 are illuminated with substantially equal intensity.

It will now be seen that when a suitable source of high potential current is connected to the terminals on the ends of tube 28 by conductors 32 and 33, light is emitted from tube 28 and consequently indicia 13 are illuminated. The color of the light emitted from tube 28 may be varied according to the character of the gas contained within the tube, and consequently the color of indicia 13 may likewise be varied in this manner. Furthermore, the color of the indicia may be varied by forming the indicia. or tube 28 from substances having different colors. In order to increase the intensity of the light cast through indicia 13, I preferably provide a reflector 34 of any suitable shape and secured to the rear side of casing 20 as, for example, by rivets 35'. Thus, light cast in a rearward direction from tube 28 is reflected by reflector 34 to be thrown in turn toward indicia 13.

Turning back to Figure 1, when tube 28 is emitting light as above described, thus to illuminate indicia 13, images A appear in mirror-member 12. These images are the complement or reverse of that portion of the indicia which is visible to the observer. They appear at the sides of the indicia, thus giving the impression that they are other portions of these indicia corresponding thereto in shape and size, the whole being suspended in a space. As described above, indicia 13 are set off in relief from the front surface of mirror-member 12. When illuminated, however, images A combine. with the visible portions of indicia 13 (those portions set off in relief from mirror-member 12) to give the illusion to an observer that the letters are actually suspended in a space with no visible means of support and have twice as much bulk or mass as is actually the case. Furthermore, the light forming images A are in turn reflected from the surface of mirror-member 12 instead of being absorbed thereby, to add to the intensity of the outline of the indicia. Accordingly, besides achieving an ornamental effect in an illuminated sign in this manner, I also provide a sign whose indicia are so intensely illuminated as compared with the amount of light used for such illumination, that the visibility and legibility thereof is greatly and efficiently increased.

Turning now to Figure 4, I have shown another embodiment of my invention in which I prefer to use electrical incandescent lighting means. Thus, in this instance, I provide a casing generally indicated at 36 preferably set within a cavity or recess'37 in a wall 38. Casing 36 may be secured to wall 38 within cavity 37 by screws 39 extending through the rear side of the casing and thence into the wall.

Suitably mounted upon the inner surface of the rear side of casing 36 are a series of sockets 40, 41 and 42 of any convenient construction. Sockets 40, 41 and 42 are preferably connected in parallel by conductors 43 and 44 passing in turn through a suitable insulator 45. Bulbs 46, 4'7 and 48are inserted in sockets 40, 41 and 42 respectively and, when conductors 43 and 44 are connected to a suitable source of current, these bulbs emit light. To add to the intensity of the light emitted from the bulbs, I preferably provide a reflector 49 positioned to the rear of the bulbs and extending about the sockets. Reflector 49 may take any convenient shape, although I preferably form it concave in order to direct the greatest quantity of light rays toward indicia 13 (Figure 5). As is more clearly shown in Figure 5, refiector 49 is affixed to the rear side of casing 36 bya bracket 50 preferably soldered to the reflector and connected to the casing by rivets generally indicated at 51. When the bulbs are lightedin the above described manner, light is east through indicia 13 and the intensity thereof is magnified by reflector 49. The color of this light may be varied according to the color of the bulbs used and also the material from which indicia 13 is formed as described above. Upon the lighting of the bulbs, images A appear in mirror-member 12 to produce substantially the same effect as that described above with reference to Figure 1.

Although I may secure frame 11 to either-casing 20 or casing 36 in any convenient manner, I prefer to provide in these casings, slots 52 in the top sides thereof, these slots being in substantial registry with lugs 53 extending downwardly from flange 19, as viewed in Figure 5, and substantially parallel to the plane of mirrormember 12. When frame 11 lies flush against the front edge of casing 20 or casing 36- (this construction being substantially identical in both embodiments of my invention herein described) lugs 53 extend into slots 52 to hold the top portion of the frame firmly against the casing. Preferably, slots 52 are slightly larger than lug 53 so that the frame carrying mirror-member 12 may be swung in an upward direction, as viewed in Figure 5, about slots 52 as an axis. At the bottom of frame 11, as viewed in Figure 5, I provide upon flange 19 a series of raised portions 54 extending toward casing 20 and in registry with a series of indentations 55 upon the casing, when the bottom portion of the frame lies flush against the bottom edge of the casing.

Thus, upon closing the frame on casing 20 or casing 36, raised portions 54 snap into indentations 55 to secure the frame against any frontwise displacement. However, if sufficient tension is exerted against the frame, it may be swung upwardly so that the various parts contained in casings 20 and 36 may be examined or repaired. Furthermore, the parts mounted upon mirrormember 12 may also be repaired by removing the frame from the casing, this being accomplished by removing lugs 53 from slots 52, cords 32 and 33 (Figure 4) being of sufficient length to allow the frame in this case to be moved forward sufficiently to obtain access to all of the parts within the casing and upon the rear side of the mirror-member.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a highly efficient and thoroughly practical device in which the several objects hereinbefore mentioned, as well as many others, are successfully achieved.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the above invention and as many changes might be made of the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. In an illuminated sign construction, in combination, a specular reflecting member, translucent indicia extending above said reflecting member, and means positioned behind the reflecting surface of said reflecting member for illuminating said indicia.

2. In an illuminated sign construction, in combination, a reflecting member, translucent indicia extending above said reflecting member, means disposed behind said reflecting member for illuminating said indicia, and reflecting means positioned behind said illuminating means.

3. In an illuminated sign construction, in combination, a reflecting member, translucid indicia positioned on said reflecting member and set off in relief therefrom, and glow-tubes positioned behind said indicia and adapted to illuminate said indicia.

4. In an illuminated sign construction, in combination, a mirror, translucent letters extending through said mirror and positioned in relief from the reflecting surface of said mirror, and means for directing light through said letters.

' 5. In an illuminated sign construction, in combination, means having a specular reflecting surface, a plurality of translucent indicia extending from said means and positioned in relief from and adjacent to said reflecting surface, and il-' luminating means positioned behind said reflect ing surface.

6. In an illuminated sign construction, in combination, a member having a specular reflecting surface, a translucid indicium extending from said reflecting surface, and glow-tubes positioned behind said reflecting member and adapted to direct light through said indicium.

7. In an illuminated sign construction, in combination, a member having a specular reflecting surface, a translucid indicium extending from said reflecting surface, and electric illuminating members adapted to cast light through said indicium.

V 8. In an illuminated sign construction, in combination, a member having a specular reflecting surface, a translucid indicium extending from said reflecting surface, electric illtuninating means adapted to cast light through said indicium, and a reflector positioned behind said illuminating means.

9. In an illuminated sign construction, in combination, a metallic member having a specular reflecting surface, translucid indicia extending above said reflecting surface'and secured to said metallic member, and means for directing light through said indicia.

10. In an illuminated sign construction, in combination, a sheet of metal, one surface of which is plated with a highly polished metal, a plurality of translucent indicia set off in relief from the plated side of said metal, and glowtubes for directing light through said indicia.

11. In an illuminated sign construction, in combination, a sheet of metal having a reflecting surface, a plurality of translucent letters set off in relief from said reflecting surface, and electric illuminating means adapted to throw light through said letters whereby complementary images of said letters appear in said reflecting surface.

12. In an illuminated sign construction, in combination, a sheet of metal having a reflecting surface, a plurality of translucent letters set off in relief from said reflecting surface, glow-tubes adapted to throw light through said letters, and a reflector positioned behind said illuminating means.

13. In an illuminated sign construction, in combination, a sheet of metal, one surface of which is plated with highly polished chrome, a plurality of translucent indicia extending through said sheet of metal and secured thereto, said indicia being positioned in relief from the plated surface of said metal, and electric illuminating means facing the unplated side of said metal and adapted to throw light through said indicia.

14. In an illuminated sign construction, in combination, a sheet metal member having a specular reflecting surface, a series of translucent indicia extending through saidmember and set off in relief from said surface, said indicia adjoining said surface, electric illuminating means positioned behind said member and adapted to throw light through said indicia, and a reflector positioned behind said illuminating means.

15. In an illuminated sign construction, in combination, a sheet metal member having a surface of highly, polished chrome, a series of indicia extending through said member and above said surface thereof, the sides of said indicia substantially adjoining said surface, and an electric illuminating apparatus positioned behind said member and adapted to throw light through said indicia whereby complements of said indicia are reflected from said surface.

16. In an illuminated sign construction, in combination, a sheet metal member having a specular reflecting surface, a series of translucent indicia extending from said member and adjoining said reflecting surface, and illuminating means associated with said member and adapted to throw light through said indicia.

17. In an illuminated sign construction, in combination, a sheet metal member having aplated reflecting surface, a series of translucent indicia extending through said'surface and adjoining said plated surface, and means adapted to cast light through said indicia.

18. In an illuminated sign construction, in combination, a sheet metal member having a reflect ing surface, a series of indicia formed fromtranslucent material extending through, openings in said member and having flanges extending over the surface of said member opposite said reflecting surface, means extending over said flanges to hold said indicia in said position, and means adapted to cast light through said indicia whereby complementary images of said indicia are formed in said reflecting surface.

19. In an illuminated sign construction, in combination, a reflecting member, translucent indicia extending from the reflecting surface of said reflecting member to form complementary and continuing images of said indicia in said reflecting member, and illuminating means positioned behind said reflecting member and adapted to throw light through said indicia whereby upon the operation of said illuminating means light diffused by said indicia gives the appearance of being diffused by said indicia and said images.

' 20. In an illuminated sign construction, in combination, a reflecting member, translucent indicia extending from the reflecting surface of said reflecting member to form complementary and continuing images of said indicia in said reflecting member, illuminating means positioned behind said reflecting member and adapted to throw light through said indicia, and means for concealing said illuminating means from View whereby when said illuminating means is operating said indicia and said images create the illusion that said indicia are completesymmetrical whole bodies suspended in a space.

21. In an illuminated sign construction, in combination, a reflecting member, translucent indicia extending'from the reflecting surface of said reflecting member to form complementary and continuing images of said indicia in said reflecting member, illuminating means positioned behind said reflecting member and adapted to throw light through said indicia, and means including the wall of. a room for concealing said illuminating means from view whereby when said illuminating means is operating said indicia and said images create the illusion that said indicia are complete symmetrical whole bodies suspended in a space. v LINDSLEY SCHEPMOES. 

